Auction draws cash to begin construction

Posted: Monday, March 22, 2004

By Mike D'Avriamike.davria@onlineathens.com

Donald Keyes holds up a skateboard deck to a packed crowd at the Globe on Sunday, March, 21, 2004. The piece by Beth Thrasher, called "Green Tara," was one of many being auctioned to raise money for the new Skate Park in Southeast Clarke Park.

About $17,000 was raised Sunday from an auction which featured skateboard decks designed by local artists to support the future Skate Park of Athens in Southeast Clarke Park.

The auction, held at the Globe on N. Lumpkin Street, featured 44 skateboard decks painted and designed by area artists and supporters for the creation of a public skate park in Athens.

Jason Thrasher, an area photographer who is one of the people responsible for the creation of the park, said the turn out Sunday was amazing, and the best possible scenario he could have hoped for.

''Have you ever seen this many people in the Globe on a Sunday afternoon?'' Thrasher responded about the large wall-to-wall crowd in the establishment.

''I was expecting (the auction) to make about $5,000 or $6,000, so it was better than that. The community really came out for this,'' Thrasher said.

Many of the painted boards brought in an average of about $200 a piece, according to Thrasher, with some fetching over $300. The big seller of the auction was a board designed by local photographer Mike Landers. The board, which featured a Polaroid transfer of a manhole cover, sold for $900.

Donald Keyes, who served as the auctioneer Sunday, said he was amazed with the quality of the art on the boards.

''This is the best art I have ever seen at a charity event, and I have been doing (auctions) for 14 years,'' Keyes said.

Thrasher noted that many people gave more money than the winning-bid amount required, and many people who did not buy boards still made donations. He said at least two people made very large donations toward the creation of the park.

Donald Keyes holds up a skateboard deck to a packed crowd at the Globe on Sunday, March, 21, 2004. The piece by Beth Thrasher, called "Green Tara," was one of many being auctioned to raise money for the new Skate Park in Southeast Clarke Park.

R.C. Rique/Staff

Mayor Heidi Davison was one of the many people in attendance, and her husband made bids on several different boards throughout the auction. Davison said Sunday that she was glad she managed to make it to the event, and noted how creative of an idea the auction was.

''To turn their sport into art is a clever idea to bring attention to the park and raise money, and obviously it worked because it brought a big crowd,'' Davison said. ''This is so very Athens to me.''

The local skateboarding community has struggled to find a place to skate for years, according to Thrasher. Around 1994, skateboarders assembled a ''renegade'' skate park in an abandoned lot on the corner of West Hancock Avenue and Pulaski Street in downtown Athens.

The park was periodically torn down by local law enforcement, and the site now hosts a commercial structure.

Thrasher said the new skate park will be the first concrete skate park in Georgia, and the quality of the park will surely bring big name professional skaters to the Athens area for competitions and skate demos. He noted that one advantage of the park is it would link Athens to a network of other Southeastern parks, including ones in Asheville, N.C., Jacksonville, Sarasota and Daytona, Fla.

Thrasher said the most important aspect of the project is to make sure the city hires the absolute best skate park builders they can. He said many others cities have wasted a good deal of money on lower-cost designers and the parks have suffered because of it.

''My goal is to get the best park builders in the country,'' Thrasher said.

The city approved $85,000 to go toward building the park, and skaters and their supporters have to come up with the rest of the money - some $50,000 - to create a world class park. Thrasher said Sunday that enough money has been raised to create the first of three phases of the park. He said they will continue to raise money for the other phases on a constant basis.

Thrasher said the bids to construct the project will start April 1, and construction could begin in the fall of this year. He said construction for phase one would take about a month.

The next event to benefit the park is a CD release party, featuring local bands who have supported the creation of the park, at Tasty World on Broad Street, Tuesday, March 30.